


The Doctor and the Detective - An Inspector Calls

by TheAllonsyGirl



Category: Broadchurch, Doctor Who
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 19:05:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3422213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAllonsyGirl/pseuds/TheAllonsyGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Donna crash landed into the sleepy town of Broadchurch, which had recently been thrown into turmoil and scandal. Can the Doctor and Donna lend a helping hand?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Doctor and the Detective - An Inspector Calls

Alec Hardy lifted his head, a mass of tangled brown hair grazing his forehead, and the tip of his eyelids as he opened them. He looked around, the edges of his vision blackened and pulsating softly. He remembered that he was not in his own home, and upon this realisation, he groaned a little. Acid bile ripped his insides, and he clambered up from the cool black tile floor he'd been lying upon. He walked into the main room which was dowdy and little outdated to him. He hated the paintings, he hated the wall colour, he hated the bed, he hated everything about this bloody town. He murmured to himself as he searched for his pill packet. He cursed under his breath as he realised he'd popped his last one like a Pez candy the night before. 

His spare pills were at the office and he growled as he stumbled back into the bathroom, his ashen, carbon-grey face ghosted before the mirror. He rubbed rebel beads of sweat from his face and stared into the red-rimmed eyes of the unshaven shell of a man that stood before him. He splashed his face with cold water and pulled off his crumpled grey shirt. He adjusted the shower dials, and turned them to a temperature usually reserved for boiling lobsters. He stepped inside and allowed his skin to sear under the rampant droplets of molten waters. They traced his skin as it turned from white to blanching pink. He stood under there for several minutes and was struggling to find the will to move away from the blissful, yet unbearable heat. 

He dried himself carelessly and shed the towel upon the bedroom floor. He dressed in much the same outfit he'd worn the last two days prior; he had no desire for well-dressed or kempt hair much anymore; he'd lost too much for anything much to matter any more. He picked up his cellphone, and begrudgingly dialled the local number he'd been given for his unwilling associate. It rang out three or four times before the tired and tense voice of Ellie Miller acknowledged him on the end of the phone;

"Yes, Sir?" her attitude was out of line but Hardy had no will to deal with churlishness so early in the morning.

"Miller, I'll be in the office in ten minutes, and if I don't see your bloody miserable face there when I get in, then I'll not be best pleased," he sniped and hung up the phone before she even had a chance to argue.

"Knob," she bit back at the dead line, and Joe laughed behind her.

"Let me guess, your delightful boss?" he smirked and handed her a cup of coffee.

"I don't have time to drink it," she sighed and looked longingly at the murky brown liquid that she so desired to drink. 

"Bloody slave driver has me running around like a bloody headless chicken; I've got to get to the office," she kissed him, and pulled on her grey suit jacket. 

"Tell Tom I love him and I'll be back for dinner this time," she smiled and hoped she could keep her promise this time. She kissed Fred, and grabbed her house keys and lunch. She dashed out of the house and placed the lunch bag between her teeth as she opened the car door. She threw the bag onto the passenger seat and cursed her boss and everything he stood for all the way to the office. She felt herself become angrier with every step she took towards the station door; more so as she approached the office of DI Hardy.

"Sir," she nodded to acknowledge him, and he ignored her sentiment completely.

"Mark Latimer's business partner, Nige is it? Where was he when Danny was killed?" he had his glasses perched upon his nose and he was perusing a series of papers. He didn't look up as he spoke. Ellie rolled her eyes and sighed softly. 

"I dunno, why don't you ask him?" she tried her best to keep her attitude in check but there was just something about this man that made her ooze a rebel sense of impertinence. Hardy merely rolled his eyes at her for he had no time for her childish games; he had to get to the bottom of this case, and soon. 

 

The Doctor whizzed around the console room, only stopping every now and then to flip a switch or press a button. Donna stood watching him, a little bemused as to his energy and his sense of urgency. 

"Can we PLEASE just go somewhere normal? Just once can we go somewhere where some out of space martian metal goblin or robot doesn't try to take off my head?" Donna sighed and leant against a pillar, reaching out to steady herself every time the TARDIS jolted or bumped its way along the stratosphere. 

"Oh Donna! Where's your sense of adventure?" he grinned and poked his tongue out between his lips and winked at her. She rolled her eyes lazily and shrugged.

"You know I love the adventure, the planets, the creatures, it's all very exhilarating, but just once can we have a day at the bloody beach?" she almost whined as she spoke.

"The beach?" the Doctor grimaced at the thought of sand in between his toes. "I hate sand," he frowned and stopped dashing about for a moment. "What do you want to go to a beach for anyway?" he raised a furtive eyebrow. 

"I live in Chiswick! It's in the middle of the city, when do I ever get to see the sea?" she folded her arms and pouted stubbornly. The Doctor tried to out-stare her, but her defiance won as it always did. He sighed and changed the co-ordinates to appease her.

"Fine, there's a nice little coastal town in Dorset called...Broadchurch. It has a beach, I'm assuming it has a bucket and spade shop for you too," he sniped at her but it was all in good jest. Donna ignored the Doctor's sarcasm and beamed in response.

"Great! Finally, just a normal day out with no killing, no monsters, and definitely NO running!" she clapped.

"Ah now no, I didn't agree to that!" the Doctor replied in dismay. There was a bright spark from the console and another and the Doctor jumped up to get to the source of the shortage. His fingers clambered and gripped for the wiring and the buttons and anything else he could feasibly tweak. 

"Donna! Hold this for me, she's going to crash," he yelled and pulled her up with one hand whilst his other clung to several wires. She grappled at the wires she'd had thrust into her hands and she swallowed thickly. Her head ducked down as she avoided cascades of sparks as they danced and flew around her becoming dangerously close to her delicate skin. The Doctor held on to the side of the console as his mind whirred and screamed at him for a solution. He was fighting a battle of intelligence and mindless panic as he adjusted the settings on his sonic screw driver. 

He seared what was left the fractured wiring together in his hands with the help of the blue sonic light but it didn't matter; the TARDIS was going to crash and he had no way of stopping it. He turned to Donna and gripped her hand in his as her wide-eyed stare met his mirrored panic. 

"Hold on," he cried and wedged himself below the console in the best way he could imagine to shield himself from falling metal shell pieces and tendril-like wiring. The whole TARDIS shuddered and groaned and the screeching became almost primal as it lost altitude. The lights flickered intermittently and the world around them shook within the capsule. The shock waves crackled and raged their way through the metal and stone as the TARDIS connected with the ground. 

Donna screamed as she felt her head connect with something hard; a pillar that she had been mercilessly thrown into upon impact. The Doctor's breathing came in heavy gasps as he pushed himself up from the ash-ridden ground. He touched his fingers to his temple and winced a little at the sight of blood. There had been a massive impact for more than one reason, but the Doctor was not aware of the chilling consequences of these unforseeable actions. 

"I think--I think I can fix this. I just need a couple of hours to work on it. I'll fix this--I'll fix this," he murmured and looked over to his companion. She lay in a twisted and pale heap upon broken metal and scorched cables. The Doctor's hearts fluttered with sickening dread as he dropped to her side. 

"Donna?" his voice had never seemed so meek and his hands trembled slightly as he reached a hand to the space where her singular heart resided. He felt the familiar and reassuring lilt of her human rhythm and he sighed. He ran the sonic screwdriver's light over her and nodded to only himself as he took in the knowledge it bestowed.

On the other side of the now-crumpled blue wooden door lay a broken wreck of crunched deep purple metal. Smoke drifted in murky clouds from vents created by the concertina-like contours of the wreck. It had once been an immaculate car but now it was deformed and shaky in its form. The cracks in the windscreen were jagged and menacing, and the form of the driver splayed across the steering wheel, unmoving. 

The sandy reddish-blonde hair of the man was matted with patches of blood and his eyes were sealed as if in a deep slumber. In a sense he was but he had not meant it to be that way. Paul Coates had always prided himself on being a careful and considerate driver but today he had fallen upon a metaphorical sword as the pieces of two very different puzzles met in the middle of their battle ground. 

There had been a scattering of screams as the cars brakes screeched in their attempt to save the car's inhabitant, several more as flames licked at the metal of the bonnet. There was a blanket of confusion making its way in Chinese whispers across the high street as locals milled into the streets to observe the crash site in morbid curiosity and wonder about the wreckage that now adorned their familiar street. Above the noise and disruption someone had managed to call for an ambulance and as Ellie Miller peered out of the police station window her eyes widened. 

"Sir," she stuttered to her boss who was still studying the pages that sprawled across his desk amongst coffee cups, pens with missing lids, pill packets, and post-it notes. 

"Hmm?" was all she managed to obtain from him. Her head snapped round and she banged her hands forcefully on the desk in front of him.

"SIR!" she yelled as she did this and Hardy flinched ever so slightly.

"What is it Miller? I'm trying to work here!" he snapped and took his glasses off, tossing them onto the desk in haphazard annoyance.

"Something's going on outside. I think there's been an accident," she spun on her heels and pulled open the glass door. The cool breeze hit her face as she broke into a jog as she crossed the street, which was now at a standstill. Miller's haste had piqued Hardy's attention and so he slowly made his way out to the point of her curiosity. 

"It's Paul Coates," she called to him as she jogged across the street. Hardy followed and frowned as he took in the large blue police box; the seemingly obvious cause of the crash.

"Where the bloody hell did that come from?" he nodded at the TARDIS.

"What? It's a lamp post," she narrowed her eyes and peeked into the crumpled mess of the car.

"It's a 1960's police box Miller; what's it doing there?" his eyes gaped at the thing and he wondered if perhaps he'd made a judgment error with his meds again.

"What are you talking about, Sir?" Ellie looked upon her boss as if he were mad.  
"Miller! Stop messing around! It's right there!" he waved his hands at it as if that would paint a picture for his subordinate.

"Sir, I think you need to lie down," she touched his arm lightly and he shrugged it off and frowned. 

Donna opened her eyes and creased her brow into a frown as she leaned up. The Doctor took her shoulders.

"Hey, hey take it easy," he attempted to ease her back down but she swatted at him.

"Stop fussing, Spaceman; it's just a head bump," she shook her head and got up; she ignored the slight pounding in her head and her slightly marred vision. She looked at the door curiously; she could hear voices outside of the TARDIS and she was intrigued. The Doctor's eyes widened a little and he gently pulled at his ear as he realised he now had to explain away the damage to a probably-angry town. 

"Well, best to get it over with quickly eh?" he grinned and poked his tongue up behind his front teeth as his eyes glittered with mirth and an innocent, almost childlike excitement. Donna turned up one corner of her mouth only at his over-exuberance and sighed. 

"Do you always have to destroy every planet we go to?" she snipped, her eyebrows raised. 

"Nah, I just like to keep things exciting," he grinned a wider grin than before and bounced out of the door to what he expected; a large crowd. He hadn't expected the car crash; that was new, and it startled him but it didn't put him off his stride. 

"Right! Hello! I'm the Doctor, and this is Donna. Terribly sorry about this; I lost control of the TARDIS and I sort of...need to fix..." he stopped as he noticed that no one was listening to him. Well, almost no one; DI Hardy's piercing eyes were locked onto him as he spoke; he was the only one. The Doctor strode over to Hardy and Ellie with Donna trailing behind him. He stopped right in front of him and took in his mirror image. Ellie looked through them as if they didn't exist and this began to perturb Hardy; his fear was simply that he was going mad. 

"So that's what I'd look like with a beard and no hair gel," he mused to himself and then held out his hand. 

"Yeah, if you were sexy," Donna added and smirked a little. Hardy raised his eyebrows for a second but his face remained angry.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor," he repeated, his smile fading as Hardy looked upon him with contempt. 

"What the hell have you done? How did you even get that here? Why do you look like me? Who's that?" he growled, prodding the Doctor in the chest. He shuddered as he did; if he were imagining them, how could he touch him? The Doctor looked down at the accusatory finger and removed it.

"I crashed the TARDIS is the simple answer. I don't know; it's fascinating though. This is Donna Noble," her scowl had long since faded, and she took his hand in her own with a smile on her face. The Doctor rolled his eyes and readdressed Hardy;

"And you are?" he prompted, as Hardy finally begrudgingly pulled his gaze back to this younger, kempt, healthy version of himself. 

"DI Alec Hardy; I'm running a murder investigation, and I don't have time for bloody idiots and their stupid practical jokes," Hardy turned and stalked back to the station and he was unsurprisingly flanked by the pair. Ellie followed; her concern for him was growing and he seemed to be unravelling.

"Sir, maybe you should see the doctor; you're obviously not well," he bristled at her response and laughed bitterly.

"Stop wittering, Miller; it's tiresome," he continued his stride into the men's bathroom.

"If only she knew, eh Donna?" the Doctor smirked and and Donna snorted as she put a hand to her mouth.

"Shouldn't you follow him?" she added and perched on the side of his desk. The Doctor nodded and headed in the same direction; his long coat causing the slightest breeze as it whipped the air. Ellie muttered something about him being a knob, and sat down at her desk.

"Shit," she mumbled as she sipped her now-cold coffee. She dragged herself up again to replenish it; Donna watched her as she walked into the small tea corner. She found Ellie to be tired and frazzled; she was pretty but stress was taking its toll slowly. She saw much of herself in Ellie; she seemed to hold fondness for DI Hardy, but it was buried beneath walls of contempt; every now and then someone left a window open, and it shone through. Donna turned her attention to the desk she'd been perched on; she sat in the same chair Hardy had been sat in whilst musing his multiple theories. 

 

The ambulance came screeching to a halt in the high street and two paramedics jumped out and trundled over with military precision to the car. They prised the door open and began to assess the condition of their patient; carefully making sure they didn't jar any broken bones. Paul started to regain consciousness as he felt hands upon him; he was confused and dazed but not critical. 

"You're going to be okay, Paul," the female paramedic soothed; everyone knew one another in this small town, but the unease following Danny's death was now prevalent; it would remain so until the killer was caught. They eased the Reverend from his iron prison and laid him gingerly onto a stretcher. The lifted him into the ambulance and disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. The bonnet had thankfully sparked itself out and was no longer a threat. In time the local mechanic would tow the monstrosity to the scrap-yard as a write off; it would become merely a cube of wreckage as opposed to a concertina. 

DI Hardy splashed several cupped hands-full of water against his weathered face and glimpsed at his greyish skin in the bathroom mirror. His complexion blanched a little as he saw the Doctor; his apparition it seemed, stood behind him. 

"You alright?" the Doctor crossed one foot over the other as Hardy dried his face with a teal paper towel. 

"I'll be fine when you disappear," he sniped and threw the balled-up paper towel into the fence-like metal bin. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and guided the light across Hardy's entire frame and he sucked air into his cheeks with a hiss.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Alec," he shook his head and put the sonic away. He stepped closer and rested a hand over Hardy's heart.

"Not got long left have you?" his eyes showed concern but his voice betrayed them with cavalier bravado. Hardy whitened again.

"They want to put a pacemaker in me; they don't know if I'll survive the operation," he spoke stiffly. 

"Why am I still talking to you?! You don't exist!" his exasperated tone made the Doctor flinch a little but he maintained his composure.

"I do exist; although I'm just as confused as you are as to why no one else can see me. Sounds like a temporal mind block, ooh or it could be a Teraform; they can do that. Fascinating," he babbled and Hardy began to lose his patience.

"You talk like you belong in an asylum," he replied bluntly.

"Says the man who appears to the world around him to be shouting at thin air," the Doctor threw back as his eyebrow arched in defiance. He continued;

"I'm not human; I'm a Time-Lord. The blue box you saw out there? That's the TARDIS; my spaceship. I travel in time and space and there's probably a reason the TARDIS crashed down at that exact spot," he looked at Hardy and saw nothing but skepticism and growing annoyance in his amber eyes. 

"Aliens? You're trying to convince me you're an alien. Bloody hell, I really HAVE lost it," he pushed past the Doctor to get to the door and as he placed his hand around the long silver bar handle the Doctor spoke;

"I know about Sandbrook, Alec," those five words sent a chill down Hardy's spine.  
"Congratulations; you can read a newspaper," he snapped; his patience was hanging on only by a thread at this point. The Doctor didn't stop there.

"The DS responsible was your wife; you covered for her," Hardy's blood ran cold; no one knew that, no one could ever have known that. 

"How do you know that?" he repeated the thought. 

"I told you," was all the Doctor returned. 

"That's absurd! It's not possible. You're a bloody loony! You must have been stalking me. What do you want? To blackmail me? No! I don't bow down to the likes of you," he hissed and wrenched the door hard enough that it banged against the wall behind him. The Doctor once again gave chase. 

Donna had become bored as she'd poked around Hardy's desk. She'd nosed through his drawers and rifled his collection of Warfarin and Propranolol, his notes to call his daughter, and his collection of memos. She was reading his case portfolios with great interest just as he returned to the main station floor. He stomped across to his desk and slammed the case files shut.

"What do you think you're doing? Those files are part of an active murder investigation!" he roared. Ellie watched him and her face contorted into that of horror as she watched her boss scream and slam his desk, chastising an empty chair. Donna stood up and got into Hardy's face.

"Don't you shout at me you silly little man; maybe you shouldn't leave your precious files lying around!" she snapped back and shoved him gently by the shoulder. 

"Ah, ah, ah, Donna, don't do that. I think DI Hardy needs to be taking it easy in his condition," the Doctor guided Hardy back to his seat after nudging a fuming Donna out of the way with an jolt of his head in the air. Hardy snatched the files back from the desk and threw them into his desk. He popped a pill from his packet and swallowed it dry.

"This is the Danny Latimer case?" the Doctor broached softly, and Hardy looked up at him. 

"Yes," he sighed and gave up asking questions; maybe he'd just as well give in to his delusions.  
"If you're a time-traveler surely you could just pop to the future and tell me who the bastard is. Would make my job a lot easier," he raised an eyebrow to the Doctor and the Doctor. 

"Ah. About that; I'd love to but I can't for two reasons; as I told you earlier, the TARDIS needs fixing so I'm stuck here until I can get her up and running again, and two; it would cause a ginormous rip in time," he nodded gravely and Hardy rolled his eyes.

"So? You could just fix it," he shrugged angrily.

"I could, but I won't. This is a human death caused by human means; I can't intervene in human deaths. Well, I can, but I shouldn't; it could change everything," he jumped up to sit on Hardy's desk and looked upon him with eyes that seemed too old to be in such a sprite young man. 

"Not even a hint?" he added bitterly. 

"I can't intervene, Alec. I can only intervene if a human being is in danger; or the planet is in danger. Or if a planet is violating the Shadow Proclamation," he knew the answers but much like a school exam; the Doctor would not provide them; he knew of the hurt this town would face once it was revealed. He had not picked this town at random; Donna had no knowledge of his deception, but he had felt something as he hovered over the tawdry place; and from the way she had plummeted, so did the TARDIS. He was needed here but he was unable to give the answers; it was then that he saw a small way he could help DI Hardy. Sadly it also implicated him. 

"Well that helps; wonder how that ended up in this universe. I haven't seen these in three hundred years!" he reached out and pulled the little scorpion-rat hybrid from the back of DI Hardy's neck and he gasped as its fangs drew out. He couldn't see what the Doctor was holding but the pain he had felt was real. 

"You're holding thin air," Hardy jibed flatly. He was about to continue when Ellie Miller piped up with a question of enlightenment.

"Who are these people?" the Doctor turned to the approaching DS and smiled warmly.  
"You can see me now then? Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Donna," He reached out his hand and she took it. Her face was bemused as she took in the face of the man could swear was Hardy's twin except vibrant and younger and something close to handsome even. 

"DS Ellie Miller. Uh...I didn't see you come in," she tried to wrap her head around the whole thing and seemingly failed. 

"We've been here the whole time but this little guy has that effect on humans; not Donna though; she's spent enough time in the TARDIS around huon energy to be immune. Otherwise she'd be just as blind to me as you were; that would be a travesty!" Donna recoiled as she looked into the Doctor's hands; she could see the creature and she was repulsed by it's rat-like face with scorpion fangs, its segmented body with rat-like fur and a scorpion stinger, yet it still had paws. 

"What is THAT?" she backed away from it. Ellie and DI Hardy looked at each other and back to the Doctor's empty hands which were cupped together.  
"Did you think you'd finally get rid of me for a minute there, Miller?" Hardy's mouth almost ghosted a smile; Ellie twitched a smile back.

"In my dreams maybe," she jibed and folded her arms. 

"It's a Canembrae. It feeds on guilt. This little guy was chowing down on the good Inspector over here. Somebody has a secret. They make themselves and all other alien life invisible to human beings. That's why no one could Donna and I; she classifies as part alien due to her previous encounters of huon energy. I gather that right about now there's a rather confused bunch of people in the high street poking at my TARDIS," he frowned in disapproval. 

"I can't give you the answers Alec, but I can help you find out who has a secret to confide. Where there's one Canembrae there's several more, and given this town's latest events I can assume that there's a buffet of guilt on offer here," he pulled out his sonic and as the blue light ghosted over the creature it stopped moving.

"You killed it?" Donna's expression morphed into pity.

"Nah it's asleep. I just don't want it scuttling off whilst we're here," the Doctor smiled and laid it upon DI Hardy's desk. He and Ellie jumped as they saw it; the Canembrae was unable to project invisibility in its sleeping state.

"Don't put that on my table, and stop calling me Alec!" Hardy growled and swatted at the creature with his jacket sleeve.  
"It's your name isn't it?" Donna replied in a voice drenched with attitude.

"I don't like it. Quite a sassy redhead aren't you? I imagined you'd be Scottish when I saw you," he shrugged his jacket on carefully and stood up. 

"Thank you Mr Stereotype," she rolled her eyes; she might have enjoyed Hardy's outer appearance but she preferred the Doctor's bouncy demeanour, much to her surprise. The Doctor stifled a laugh and the four of them headed out into the street; the debris was now almost gone from the scene. The only remnants of it that remained were a dent in the TARDIS, and a plethora of criss-crossed skid marks from where the cars behind had swerved to avoid the mess. 

"So the Vicar, we should go and see him. I need to check as many people as possible without them knowing exactly what it is I'm doing. That reminds me; Ellie? Turn around please," the Doctor pulled down her collar and moved her dark curls away from her neck.

"No Canembrae; congratulations," he grinned at her as though she had won a prize on a trashy game show. It did shake the haunted look from her eyes as she let her hair down again. She pressed the unlock button on her keys and climbed in. Hardy climbed in beside her, and the Doctor and Donna hopped into the back. She drove them out to the local hospital in search of the Reverend. They drove in awkward silence and filed into the building; it was larger than you'd expect for such a small town. 

"DI Hardy. I'm looking for the Reverend," his eyebrows knitted together in a scowl. The receptionist spoke meekly under Hardy's gaze.

"Room 6 on the left; there's twenty minutes of visiting hours left," she went back to her typing quickly as they headed towards the room. As Hardy pushed open the door Paul looked up from his Bible and smiled. 

"Detective, Ellie, and...who are these people?" he didn't seem any less genial towards his unfamiliar visitors. 

"Hello, I'm the Doctor. This is Donna," he smiled and sat down beside Paul on the bed.  
"I just wanted to say I'm terribly sorry for causing an accident. It was all my fault and I'll make sure I fix up as much as I can before I leave. Can I just have a look at your neck/" he tipped his head to one side as Paul nodded, and with the help of the Doctor he sat forward; he winced a little as his ribs ached. The Doctor reached around and ran his fingers around Paul's neck and clamped around the Canembrae. He tugged it off and apologised again for the sharp pain he'd caused. 

"Sorry, watch got caught on your skin," he lied deftly and shove the writhing creature into his pocket.

"Don't be sorry; this crash was a sign," Paul smiled warmly with his hands clasped in front of him.

"A sign? A sign of what?" Donna chimed in as she sat in a nearby chair.

"From God. There was a reason for this; there is for everything," he replied and sipped from a nearby cup of water. Donna tried to hide her scornful snort but she couldn't. 

"If there was a God then this world wouldn't be such a mess; there would be no famine, no Earthquakes, no poverty," her eyes locked onto Paul's a defiant hand on her hip.

"People die, people starve, and some see that as God being cruel and unforgiving; that's not how it is. We are all presented with trials in this life; He gives the biggest trials to those He believes can handle them. Even I wonder what the purpose of a child with cancer would be, or a baby dying in the womb, but it's not something any human being can ever understand," Paul always tried not to be a proselysing man; it was at times like this though, his faith was as important as his oxygen. He added;

"I didn't die today because God was trying to teach me something; I don't know what yet, but I have faith that I'll understand it one day," he smiled and the Doctor indicated with his head that it was a good time for them to leave. Donna bit her tongue as she fought the urge to dispute and disagree in the face of this information. The Doctor steered her out of the room with no further incident. He paused just before he followed the others.

"Keeping secrets is a hard thing to do isn't it? Eats away at you," he attempted to draw something from Paul but he got the response he fully expected from a man of God.

"I wouldn't know Doctor. My soul is cleansed every day by the Lord. Jesus died for my sins; they only belong to me as long as I keep them to myself. God knows my sins; yet He still loves me," his eyes and his smile remained even and composed.

"You get to feeling better Reverend," the Doctor smiled sincerely and they left him to his Bible study. 

"Thank you Doctor," he replied and opened his Bible and began reading aloud to himself.

As they bundled back into the car the Doctor thought out loud; more to himself than to anyone else.

"He's hiding something; he just seems...too whiter than white. Have you known him long?" he posed the question to Ellie as it had become abundantly clear from his disconnections from the town that Hardy was from out of town. She shrugged and shook her head.

"About two years? He took over the church when the old Reverend retired. He also runs the computer club at my son's school. Seems nice enough. My family don't really go to church to be honest. Weddings, funerals, Easter if we remember," she climbed back into her car as the Doctor internalised his further musings. DI Hardy had his own ideas for their next stop and no one put up a protest; he had a feeling it was time to ruffle Jack's feathers further. The newsagents was quaint and there were buckets and spades, post card stands and other nautical and tourist-like items on display outside.

"See Donna? I told you we'd find you a bucket and spade," he smirked as he jabbed her in the ribs.

"Oh you're so funny," she grumbled but still half smiled; his sunny disposition was infections to all around. Well almost all; DI Hardy was yet to be charmed, it seemed, by anything he'd ever seen. They walked through in their mini huddle and Jack audibly groaned as he saw DI Hardy approaching his counter.

"Oh not you again," he sighed and continued cutting the ties that shackled his piles of newspapers. 

"Been making more friends I see?" the Doctor quipped; Hardy replied only with a condescending glare. 

"I'm the Doctor, and I'd like a Magnum please," he turned to Donna and she rolled her eyes as she begrudgingly handed him a five pound note. He grinned and returned the change to her once the transaction was complete. 

"Who's the girl?" Jack replied gruffly and pointed at Donna. She squeaked in contempt.

"My name is Donna thank you very much, and I'm not a girl I'm a woman," she placed her hands once more upon her hips to emphasise her point. Jack made the mistake of letting his eyes wander a little too far below Donna's eye-line.

"Oi! Eyes level sailor," she snapped and defensively folded her arms in front of her. DI Hardy stepped in front of her for extra cover. She silently thanked his gesture.

"Turn around," he asked simply. 

"What for? I have things to do you know," Jack replied as he continued to count and arrange his newspapers. 

"Turn around!" Hardy barked making everyone around him jump. Everyone that is, except for the Doctor, who sat licking what was left of his ice cream; the outer shell of chocolate was long since gone; Hardy especially knew this as the crunching of it made him want to smack the ice cream from his hand. His long tongue made nonchalant strokes against the soft white ice cream; he leaned up from the counter and handed the ice cream to Hardy, much to his further annoyance. The Doctor reached out and quickly snapped the creature from the back of Jack's neck and used his sonic to silence it as he had with the others. He took back his ice cream and devoured its remaining half-melted bites as he spoke. 

"So is mum the word, Jack?" he asked as he proceeded to lick his fingers. 

"What are you talking about?" Jack narrowed his eyes and paused for a moment.

"You have a secret," the Doctor was bordering on gleeful at this point. 

"No I don't," he replied curtly and continued his duties.

"And even if I did I wouldn't tell the first wafer-thin cockney hipster that walked through my front door," he folded his arms and eyed both Donna and Ellie with disdain as they smothered their laughter at the old man's mockery of the Doctor. 

"Actually I'm from--oh never mind. Be careful Jack; secrets come out, and people change from what they learn," he became sombre and foreboding in his tone. Jack merely shrugged and the Doctor shook his head. He placed his Magnum stick on the counter and they disappeared.  
"Who else is on your suspect list?" the Doctor turned to Hardy and began cleaning his teeth with his tongue.

"Mark Latimer, Nige Carter, Susan Wright, and Tom Miller," Hardy took a look at Ellie as he said her son's name and she visibly cringed; anger had since surpassed as she knew he was wrong but had to indulge him all the same.  
"Nige is over at Beth and Mark's; I saw him head out there this morning. Since Danny died he's been there an awful lot," She felt guilty that she hadn't been there as often as she'd have like to support Beth. 

"Miller, don't start snivelling again," Hardy hardened his glare on her but softened it when she returned something quite more ferocious. 

"Where's the Latimer house from here?" Donna tried to interject before a full-on row began.

"It's within walking distance," Ellie spoke to Donna but don't remove her eyes from Hardy. The Doctor removed a banana from his pocket and peeled the yellowy skin from the tender flesh. He took a large bite and Hardy turned to him once again.

"Do you have to do that now?" he bristled as they began walking; Donna and the Doctor trailing behind. 

"Bananas are good!" he exclaimed as he continued to eat. It was merely a five minute walk to the Latimer house and upon arrival more people gathered in the back yard; Hardy found these people to be like sitting ducks as he approached them they seemed to sink into the ground almost. He addressed everyone before they cold protest. 

"I'm gonna make this easy; Beth, Mark, Nige; this is the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor is going to have a look at the back of your necks and it's a good idea to let him do it now instead of down at the station," Hardy folded his arms in an authoritative way. 

"Ellie? What's going on?" Beth turned her haunted eyes to her life-long friend for answers.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you; just...listen to him," she almost choked on the words as they were distasteful to her. Beth turned around as she held her hand to her chest. Donna and the Doctor peered but there was nothing but her creamy soft skin and baby hairs that had begun to grow. 

"Thank you Mrs Latimer; I know this is confusing and upsetting, more so because I'm a stranger to you. I'd explain it if I thought it would make you feel less scared, less empty; but it won't. I'm sorry; I'm so so sorry," he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder she nodded and sat back on the couch. The Doctor looked to the two men and they looked at each other with a knowing look. They turned and waited for the Doctor to step close enough to breathe down both of their necks. 

"You know when you were a kid and you used to go to get an injection at the Doctor's and they'd always tell you it was going to be a 'small scratch'? Well, small scratch," he smiled sweetly and tore a creature from them both simultaneously and they yelped slightly in protest. 

"Was that really necessary?" Mark grumbled and rubbed the spot on his neck which unbeknownst to him was just now an open bite wound. 

"I'm afraid it was. It's interesting what you learn by doing the simplest of things," he smiled mystically.

"Donna, sonic screwdriver please," he held his arms up and allowed Donna to forage in his coat pocket. She pulled out the device and pointed it at the Doctor's hands. He filled his pockets once more and smiled genially.

"Thank you for that," he nodded and zipped out of the door quickly leaving the occupants of the Latimer house none the wiser. 

"My house is across the way," Ellie spoke quietly as if she was worried her son may be implicated. 

"And this Susan Wright?" he added as he eyed up the skyline.

"Down in the caravan park on the beach," Hardy added and popped a pill from a blister pack in his jacket pocket. 

"Brilliant! Allons-y!" he bounded off and Donna explained as he did.

"It's French for 'Let's go' - just go with it," she sighed and shook her head.

"He's much too buoyant and bouncy for my taste," Hardy griped before ambling slowly after him with Ellie in tow. The Doctor was waiting impatiently by the front door for the others to catch up and he caught sight of young Tom Miller in the window peering at him. He waved his hand and smiled warmly at him and Tom shirked behind the curtain. He visibly eased when he caught sight of his mother coming up the driveway. Ellie opened the door and ushered them inside to their magnolia hallway. 

Tom came out of the living room with a juice box in his hand and as he walked to the kitchen the Doctor's face fell.

"I'm so sorry Ellie; it could be something innocuous but..." he trailed off and Ellie's throat became dry.

"No. No he didn't do it. Not in a million years. My boy would never do that. I'd know if my boy did it," Ellie's voice was thick with denial and her jaw clenched. The Doctor's face was painted with pity. 

"Tom, can you come here for a moment please/" the Doctor asked him and he looked at his mother for guidance.

"It's okay sweetheart; he's a friend," she put on her best reassuring smile and the boy obeyed. He gently nipped the Canembrae from Tom's neck and he yelped a little. He looked hurt and betrayed by the Doctor.

"I'm sorry Tom; I had to do that but you can go and play now," he smiled and used the sonic to once again neutralise the creature. Ellie frowned a little.

"Where's your Dad?" she looked around for her husband, peeking her head around the downstairs doors.

"He went to get a few things from the shops. He's not been gone very long," Tom replied and picked up his Nintendo DS. Ellie nodded and walked over to kiss her son on the head. She reminded him to be good and he nodded before turning on his game. 

"We'd best head over to that bloody miserable woman's caravan; I don't want to spend any more time than I have to near her," Hardy almost physically shuddered at the thought. 

"She harder to put up with than you?" Donna smirked. Hardy raised an eyebrow and smiled without the pleasantries.

"Different strokes for different folks I suppose but I don't like her," he narrowed his eyes.

"You don't like anyone," Ellie sniped and walked out of the door. They ambled arduously back to Ellie's car at the newsagents and they clambered in one by one. She parked in the car park right next to the hiking trail. Hardy looked upon the caravans with disdain and as they made their way down to number three, he groaned. He wiped his face with his handkerchief and after a worried glance or two from the others he approached the door. He knocked and stepped down to the ground from the small step.

Susan Wright opened the door to her caravan with her face set in its usual grimace and Vince nosed his way out of the door in curiosity. The Doctor bent down to fuss him and he got a lick on the nose for his troubles. Donna yelped and stepped aside as if it were a bear as opposed to a medium-sized chocolate Labrador. 

"Can I help you?" Susan spoke with an estuary English accent and the Doctor was polite as always. 

"Ah yes as a matter of fact you can! I'd like to look at the back of your neck," he smiled as if this was a normal request. Susan's face became even less amused and she looked to Ellie and DI Hardy.

"What's he talking about?" she spoke each word with boredom and contempt. 

"I think it's pretty clear what he asked you," Hardy seethed back as his patience began to dwindle away. She turned around and the Doctor snapped the creature from her; his will to be gentle in her rudeness was long gone. 

"There we are, all done," he smiled smugly. He believed there were no more Canembrae to be retrieved as he was visible to every person they had approached after the first was removed. 

"You do that again and I'll have you," she pulled Vince into the caravan and slammed the door.

"She's even less palatable than you Alec," Donna jibed. Hardy bit his tongue and allowed the comment to go over his head; he didn't have the energy to engage in attitudinal gymnastics with her. Ellie dropped the three of them back at the station.

"I promised Joe I'd be home for dinner, Sir. I can always come back afterwards if you need me," she hoped he'd let her go for the day but she held little hope.

"Go home Miller, it's fine. I'll call you if I have to," he dismissed her with his hand. She nodded and headed off in the car.

"So, I guess this is it then," the Doctor smiled in a small way and looked across to his TARDIS. Hardy nodded and half smiled.

"You sure you can't just tell me?" he half-hoped he would relent and give him what he so desperately needed.

"Afraid not," she shook his head.

"Well...you know," he cleared his throat and looked down to the floor and scratched his head.

"Thanks," he mumbled. He held his hand out to shake it and the Doctor took it eagerly. Donna leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. She couldn't be sure but she heard him chuckle. The Doctor walked back to the TARDIS and he turned just as he reached the doors.  
"Oh and Alec?" Hardy looked up.  
"Try to lighten up a bit. Ellie could really use your support; be a friend Alec, it'll only benefit you," he smiled softly as he headed into the TARDIS 

"Right then, let's get you all fixed up," he clapped his hands together and bounced over to the console.  
"Donna, pass me the screwdriver," he grinned, and she returned it.

"Gotchya Spaceman," she smiled and handed it over.

 

DI Hardy carried the two cups in either hand and they shook a little as he approached Ellie. He stood there for maybe thirty seconds as if he was trying to prepare himself for a difficult conversation. He swallowed thickly and once his mouth was less dry he addressed her.

"Ellie?" she turned around and her face registered complete surprise at his use of her first name; he had even brought her a coffee.

"Blimey! That Doctor really did talk some sense into you didn't he? Donna too." he pondered her words for a minute and twitched a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," he replied and sipped his coffee, his thoughts wondering for a moment about the madman with a blue box and his red-headed companion, and for the first time in a very long time, Alec Hardy smiled. 

Joe walked back through the front door to greet Ellie and Tom. They embraced him with kisses and smiles and the knowledge that dinner was almost ready. He walked into the bathroom upstairs and rubbed his neck as it had been itching him all day. He peered into the mirror and took in his pallid face; the one that was behind his facade. The Canembrae continued to feed on this new and seemingly everlasting source of sweet and succulent guilt; but who would ever know it?


End file.
